Syringes are used in various medical procedures for introducing fluids into vessels, cavities or medical devices, e.g. catheters or other access devices. Virtually any liquid can be introduced via a syringe, including a large selection of liquids introduced into a patient for therapeutic purposes, e.g. liquid medications.
Once a liquid is contained within the barrel of a syringe, it can be difficult to determine accurately and quickly the identity of the liquid. Many liquids introduced via syringe are weak solutions containing primarily water, and are thus visually indistinguishable from each other. In addition, it is usually of critical importance to know what liquid is being introduced and to avoid the introduction of other liquids. The amount of a particular liquid to be introduced is also usually critical. The possibility of confusion coupled with the adverse consequences that could result for the administration of the wrong medicine requires the proper identification of a fluid to be introduced into a patient.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0186437 discloses a syringe structure for identifying the contents of the syringe by printing on the barrel or plunger of the syringe. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,760 discloses a coating applied to the outer surface of the syringe barrel, where the coating may be inscribed with contents identification using a pen or marker.
Accordingly, there is a need for simple, convenient, inexpensive structure and method of identifying the contents of a syringe without having to choose a particular barrel or plunger beforehand or requiring the recording of contents using a pen.